RYAN Church confesses he’s a “homebody.” When the Mets outfielder wants to relax at night at home in Viera, Fla., he usually goes online to play the video game “Call of Duty.”

Most every night he plays with another video gamer out of Wichita, Kan., teammate Mike Pelfrey.

“We’re usually on there for a couple [of] hours. My wife gives me a hard time. She hates it,” Church said with a laugh. “But it keeps me out of trouble.”

There was a time when ballplayers played cards together on long train rides. This generation plays video games for fun – in season and out. It’s a good way to stay connected.

Church, 30, is thankful for much in his life this offseason. He and his wife Tina are proud parents of a 10-month old son, Mason. His younger brother Matt has answered the real call of duty and is back from his second tour in Iraq. Matt is in the Army Special Forces. Ryan’s older brother Andy is a prison guard in Colorado. The family got together out there for Thanksgiving.

“I’m very proud of these guys and what they do,” Ryan said of his brothers. “I’m just glad Matt is home safe and sound. It was tough every day knowing he was on the other side of the world in harm’s way. It put a lot of things in perspective for me.”

Matt, who is married with two children, is training in Georgia and will visit Ryan this week.

“Even though Matt is my little brother,” Ryan said sarcastically, “he’s one guy I don’t want to pick on anymore because he’ll just pinch my neck and I’ll pass out or something.”

You can imagine the conversations around that dinner table with this unique band of brothers.

“Shoot,” Ryan said, “I don’t even need to say anything. I just listen to these guys. I’m in awe of the stories they got to tell. It’s probably boring if I say anything. But then they want me to tell stories about who I met, different pitchers I faced or what it’s like to play in front of 55,000 people.”

Church hopes to have many more stories after the 2009 season. Following a terrific start at the plate last season, it became a difficult year after he suffered a second concussion. The first came in a nasty collision with Marlon Anderson on March 1 in spring training. The second came trying to break-up a double play in Atlanta on May 20.

He was never right the rest of the year, living in a painful post-concussion syndrome haze. Church played just 90 games and over his last 28 games batted .208. He produced one home run in his past 18 games. But now the cloud is lifted and the Mets are expecting big things from the right fielder. Church batted .350 over the first 21 games last year and was hitting .311 when he suffered that second concussion.

“I’m champing at the bit, I want to start right away,” he said. “I’m feeling great, I can’t wait.”

Church can hit anywhere in the lineup. One interesting spot for the left-hander is second. In 41 games there lifetime, he has batted .313 with a .412 on base percentage.

Just think how beneficial it can be to bat between Jose Reyes and David Wright. The Mets were 15-8 last year in games where Church batted second.

“I’ll take any spot in the lineup as long as I’m healthy, but I love hitting in that 2-hole,” he said.

No matter where he bats, Church said he is energized about the season with the bullpen additions the Mets have made, adding closer Frankie Rodriguez, J.J. Putz and Sean Green.

“We have all the confidence in the world right now that when we get to (innings) seven, eight, nine, it’s going to be shut-down time,” he said. “We’re retooled, revamped and are ready to get after it.”

Right field is a key spot, too, in the new Citi Field. There are nooks and crannies and an overhang.

“I’m excited,” Church said of the Mets’ new home. “Just seeing that field every day in the background when we were at Shea last year, it was like ‘Wow, we can’t wait to get there.’ “